Texans GM Smith hopeful after 2-2 start

Rick Smith will play the what-if game with Matt Schaub. Take away three bad decisions, and the Texans general manager believes Schaub’s uneven start to the 2013 season would look much different to angered outsiders calling for a quarterback change.

But other than Schaub, who Smith strongly supports, the GM deals in professional reality. And while his team’s 2-2 beginning isn’t the opening he, owner Bob McNair nor coach Gary Kubiak were aiming for during the preseason, Smith remains optimistic about the Texans’ long-term chances this year. He was also adamant more time is required before even a temporary judgment can be made about a team that began the year proudly touting its Super Bowl potential.

“This group understands a couple things,” Smith said. “They understand the correlation between hard work and success on game day. And they understand the importance of staying focused on the task at hand. The task at hand this week is the San Francisco 49ers. And they get that.”

One of the deepest teams in the NFL is buried in the middle of the AFC and ranked third in its division through a quarter of the season. The Texans’ frustrating, unpredictable play has been acknowledged by everyone from Smith and Kubiak to J.J. Watt and Arian Foster. But Smith doesn’t buy the idea the Texans are a few plays away from being 0-4.

And he stressed that 12 remaining regular-season games are more than enough time for a franchise that’s never won a divisional round playoff contest to achieve its 2013 vision.

“We haven’t found our consistency yet. That’s just a true statement. But we’ve got a lot of football to play,” Smith said. “Some of those earlier games, good teams find a way to win, and so we were able to do that a couple of times.”

He added: “These things will serve us well moving forward. It’s a long season – a long season. So all the experiences will help us down the road.”

The last time the Texans were average was 2011, when they hit 3-3 before finishing 10-6. A loss Sunday night in San Francisco would push a Texans squad that finished 12-4 last season to 2-3 this year, marking the first time since Nov. 14, 2010 the franchise would have fallen below .500.

Like Smith, Kubiak still sees the long road. But the destination will shorten if the Texans don’t soon start playing like the team they’re supposed to be.

“I try to keep it in perspective,” Kubiak said. “We’ve played a quarter of the season and obviously we’re not where we want to be. But it’s a long, long way to go and we’re very, very capable football team. We know that. We’ve got to be a more consistent football team.”